This is when the Strawhats finally understand...

ABOUT TIME!!!

P.s this chappies gonna be filled with memories (like little stories that happened in between the storyline)~ ;)

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The strawhats were amazed.

Inside that little happy-go-lucky boy's head was a wonderous hideaway, one that you would make up in your fantasies, there were fields and fields of bright flowers as far as the eye can see, a majestic forest in the middle of autumn to the left and a large frozen, winter lake to the right.

"This is Luffy's mind?" Chopper breathed out in awe as a small firefly flew part his face, circling around him long enough for the small child to realize it wasn't a firefly, but some sort of short term memory.

"Come on, we didn't come here to have fun" Zoro dragged the crew into a fork in the dirt road, the forest, or the pond? Or even perhaps back to the field?

The group had no idea, "hmmm, any way could be the path to the memories we're after, what do we do?" Robin hummed.

Usopp seemed to have gotten a brilliant plan, "Ah! I got it! Zoro you choose!" While the others sweat dropped in worry, the greenie stepped forward and stared intensely at the two way sign, almost as if he was telepathically communicating with it.

"POND!" He shouted, but as he was about to go (almost) in that direction the others dragged him towards the forest.

"The forest it is then" Nami hit Zoro upside the head when Sanji's remark ticked him off, there was no way she was going to let them rumble inside Luffy's mind.

"HEY GUYS I THINK I FOUND IT, SUPER!"

The Strawhats immediately burst into the direction of the yell until they found themselves standing in front of a large oak tree with a gold rimmed door poking out of it, to their suprise it was the only tree that was still healthy green.

Robin stepped forward and brushed away the dirt and leaves to read the label on the top of the door handle.

"Getting kidnapped and making new nakama!
My favorite adventures yet~♡"

The heart looked like it was scribbled on like an afterthought while Zoro cringed at it in distaste, having the thought of just burning the whole tree down, "okay, let's hurry the fuck up and torch this motherfucker"

Zoro was about to shatter the frame with his bear hands until Nami and Usopp held him back, "WAIT! I told you guys earlier! We have to view the memories first for the protective coating to wear down!"

Zoro just stared at the two thinking 'WTF' while Sanji just cooed and did his noodle dance with hearts in his eyes, speaking about how his Nami-swan was so cute when she's stressed.

"FINE THEN!" The swordsman forcefully kicked the door open, causing a few splinters to fly out and ran in without looking where he was going, "Zoro-san wait!!" Brook called after his fellow swordsman as the crew ran after him.

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They were floating, and it was pitch black as far as the eye can see, "what the hell?" Sanji's cigarette didn't even provide them with any sight as to where they were.

"And the door disappeared behind us too, what now?" Usopp gulped and was about to panic with a girly shriek when everything suddenly erupted in light.

The group was suddenly back in the ocean, near the place where they dispersed on that faithful day, suddenly Chopper gasped when he saw Luffy swimming through the ocean, the group all stiffened in suprise when he suddenly burst in speed and practically flew up to the surface, "this must be his memories" Nami concluded.

The group went silent as they watched the memories unfold before them.

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Yawning in the tank, Luffy lazily drifted near the sandy floors,  softly kicking up the pebbles with his tail out of boredom, it was suffocating in that small tank, and the poor wild spirit was slowly going mad from it.

Turning his head to the clock on the wall, the raven haired mermaid recognized the familiar time and suddenly burst towards the glass, staring directly into the door out of the office until the knob jiggled and was pushed open.

"Hello Mr. Mermaid" the doctor peered at him with a blank slate expression, but the teen could easily see the calm smile the man was hiding behind his tough exterior.

"Hi Torao!" The captain paused in his duties, not facing the kid as he was pulling on his white coat on the other side of the room, but he couldn't help but smirk feeling something warm spark his frigid heart for just a moment.

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"What's it like being the ocean's incarnate?" Law held up his clipboard in patience, waiting for the younger's response, but almost faultered seeing the dull look in his eyes, an expression he never saw before on the lively mermaid, and never wanted to see again.

"It's lonely" the pirate captain frowned, setting down his pen in thought, "I was always alone, everyone would always stay away from me, everyone was always telling me that everything is too dangerous and would keep me from having any fun, I always protect them but they always work too hard in protecting me...they see me as someone important when I just want to be seen as nakama" Law flinched at the word, "nakama?"

Luffy just nodded, not looking at the surgeon, after a while and no one has spoken, the pirate captain finally broke the ice, "I think they just really care about you" swinging his head to face the human, blinking in suprise, Luffy listened to him speak, "sometimes people go through crazy measures to protect what they love, sometimes they have a reason, sometimes they don't, but that doesn't change the fact that they care about you, and you care about them"

The mermaid froze for a moment before grinning like a praised child, "thanks a lot for the advice Torao!" Beaming in joy, the teen laughed in glee, causing Law to click his tongue in annoyance, "nonsense, I was just speaking my mind" but that didn't keep a hidden smirk from taking over his features.

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"YOSH LUNCH!"

Luffy happily dug into the food set out before him, causing the crew to make cages with their own bodies around their plates, having long learned that sharing a table with Luffy was the same as sharing a dangerous battlefield.

Yanking a slice of ham from Yorokobi's ramen, the chef cried in anguish seeing his delicious food go down another's stomach, frowning in distaste, the man reached for the raven's seaking meat, only to be rewarded with a vicious bite.

"Ahh! Luffy let go!" Running around with Luffy still attached to his hand, the whole crew laughed out loud in their merriment, enjoying the lively atmosphere the teen brought with him to the ship.

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"Hey Luffy, could you sing for us again?" Looking into Penguin's hopeful eyes, the whole crew paused in their daily routine to hear the answer.

"No" everyone deflated in disappointment, wishing they could hear that amazing voice once more, "w-why not?" Yorokobi walked past the two with a broom, stopping in his tracks to find out the reason too, "because, Torao made me sing too much last night" the mermaid said it in all seriousness.

Faceplanting onto the floor, Penguin nearly collapsed from a nosebleed as Yorokobi laughed his ass off.

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"Have I ever told you how much I love you?" The teen paused in his thoughts, opening both his eyes to see his lover lean against the wall on their bed, nodding his head, Luffy listened in closer, ignoring the rays of the setting sun that got in his eyes.

"You're a gem my dear, back near the beginning of our relationship I wondered how or why fate decided to play this way, pairing me up with someone as excitable and innocent as you, but I'm afraid I can no longer go without you, I'm selfish that way Luffy-ya" grinning seeing the teenager blush in such a cute tone, Law moved closer until he was right at the boy's lips and continued on.

"I am a pirate, I take what I desire and I never give up what I've so rightfully stolen" lacing their fingers together, the surgeon hummed in delight as he stole those shining lips, absolutely purring at the taste that was Luffy.

Taking his sweet, enjoyable time making quick work of the mermaid's delicate lips, he happily bit down onto his lower lip, loving the boy's reddened expression as he slowly pulled at it in a tantalizing manner, almost feeling sorry when they finally went back in place, "I'll never give you up, my ocean"

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By the time the memories were finally over, the strawhats were breaking down in tears, those memories were something bigger than they expected, and they finally helped them find out, they screwed up big time.

This whole time they've been too obsessed with getting Luffy back, so driven to save him and bring him back into their protective reach, they didn't even realize it was already time to let him go.

"What have we been doing!?" Zoro screamed out in frustrated rage as he punched a crater into the ground, he was a failure, how could he go against everything he trained for so easily?

"W-we need to give Luffy back" Chopper sniffled.

Usopp tearfully nodded, easily taking the device out of Nami's weakened arms and flipped the switches around on the device, finally flicking a button that sent them back out.

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They woke up with a sharp gasp and sat up, frantically swishing their heads to find their ray of sunshine and set things right, to bring things back to how they were supposed to.

Everyone felt their hearts freeze.

Luffy was deathly still, hanging on the chains he was bound to...not. moving. an. inch.

"LUFFY!" The group gathered themselves around the prince as Sanji unlocked his cuffs, "LUFFY WAKE UP!"

They started to frantically shake him trying to stir a responce out of the hopefully not dead mermaid, he just couldn't die, the boy was everything to not only them, but to everyone who relied on the ocean.

"LUFFY!!!!"

.....

.....

.....

"Mmnnnggh" Luffy moaned painfully as he slowly regained consciousness, much to the group's relief he seemed to have been slowly regaining his consciousness.

Luffy's POV

Everything's dark, I can't move...am I dead?

...So this is what it's like to be dead, it's lonely all over again...

Do I just rest here? Do I close my eyes?

My eyes fluttered as I slowly closed them imagining all I was leaving behind, Sadness, Loneliness, Betrayal, Pain, Suffering...Torao.

My eyes burst open as I begun to fight against the sleepiness trying to overwelm me.

"TORAO! TORAO! TORAO!! I NEED TO GET BACK TO MY TORAO! I NEED MY TORAO! I WANT MY TORAO!"

I shouted as loud as my lungs would allow as light slowly cracked into my vision, light finally flooded the dark space as I felt myself fade away, 'I'm coming Torao' was my last thought.

Then I felt my mind slowly become aware of my surroundings as sound suddenly met my ears, it was screaming, my friends were screaming.

My eyes burst open but all sound left my ears as my mind froze.

The cuffs were off.

Before any of them could do anything I burst through the hole in the wall and zoomed out of there, I needed to get to my Torao! "Torao! I'm coming!!!"

Unknown to me that was the same thoughts of my beloved mate.